


Apple of My Eye

by Claudina



Series: Home is Where the Honey is [3]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Goro needs more hugs, M/M, Yet another shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 17:57:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10904469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claudina/pseuds/Claudina
Summary: Goro Akechi might have looked put together, but when Akira Kurusu started taking interest in him, he could see subtle hints about how the detective's life was actually a mess held together by the thinnest of ropes. And even though he couldn't do much, Akira knew that he had to try changing that for the better.





	Apple of My Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I'm back to churning out fluff, aye :D also, I thought that I better put it out there that I'll be taking a little break from releasing Shuake fics. This is because I'm trying to work on a multi-chapter Shuake story and it will require some proper research, so I'll be devoting some time to that instead of working on new ficlets. I'm crossing my fingers that things will go well so that I can release the story soon for you guys :) for now, I hope you enjoy this and thank you so much in advance for reading!

If you wanted to get the latest updates on people’s life troubles, the easiest way would be to become a bartender. Akira Kurusu could vouch for that.

Becoming a therapist was never in any bartender’s job list, but thanks to the media’s glamourisation of offloading your heart’s burdens on bartenders over a drink, it quickly became expected for a bartender to take the role, no matter whether they were actually willing accomplices or not. To be honest, Akira Kurusu never quite minded listening to people ventilating their hearts to him; his quietness, the exact same one which many people regarded as a vice, made him quite a splendid pair of ears. It was also great that his patrons never really expected him to say anything; most of them only needed someone who would listen.

A lot of the life stories were not that sensational, to be honest. Many of those revolved around displeasure about one’s job. A few others told the tale about family troubles. Some others were memoirs of jeopardised love lives. In a world so bleak and so hopeless, those issues were a dime a dozen, and Akira simply did what he could: he nodded, smiled and then continued doing whatever it was that he needed to do. The patrons were happy that they could get the weight off their chests, and Akira was mostly indifferent but happy to help. Not that he was super interested in other people’s woes anyway.

However, there was one particular patron whose life stories stood out above the rest. Not because they were exceedingly exhilarating or scandalous, but because they were Goro Akechi’s.

It was no secret that Café Leblanc was some kind of sanctuary to the ace detective, and over time, his lone presence by the bar became such a common occurrence that it felt odd to Akira if he didn’t see Goro’s hunched posture over a cup of coffee even just for a day.

At any rate, most of the time, Goro would just stay silent, sometimes dreamily staring at nothing in particular with his hand resting on the counter, sometimes peering deep into his drink, as if he wanted to disappear into the black void. However, on rarer occasions, he would let snippets of his life slip out, and Akira would then carefully collect these in the vault of his mind. He wasn’t sure when he first started doing it; there was just something about Goro that was both intriguing and vulnerable and even though it might not be a wise idea, he took interest in the ace detective, not in the way his fangirls did, but in a more genuine way, in the ‘I-want-to-know-your-past-and-meet-your-mum’ kind of way.

Not literally, of course; Akira knew from one of Goro’s late-night talks with him that his mum had long passed away. _She was kind, but got involved with a no-good man,_ Goro said with a sigh, the pain clouding his eyes. _I got passed around from one foster home to another, but thankfully, I’m doing okay on my own now…_

Akira just stood silently, eyes poring over the mop of brunette hair in front of him. Goro must have had a lonely life; Akira didn’t know how exactly his childhood was like, but judging from him being thankful that he was well on his own now, it mustn’t have been a particularly dreamy one. He wondered how much it shaped the person in front of him right now. On normal days, Goro seemed well-adjusted and confident enough, but sometimes, Akira thought that he could detect a hint of self-deprecation in the way Goro walked and talked, like he never cared at all about himself.

When Akira started observing Goro more, the small oddities which were overlooked at first glances suddenly manifested quite readily. Goro was prim and proper, but never looked like he had ever had a good sleep in his life. He would sometimes flinch when Akira’s fingers accidentally brushed against his. Often, he would linger until the closing hour, reluctant to go back into the night when his time was up, as if he was afraid that the darkness would swallow him.

Also, Goro was probably eating merely to survive, because his meal pattern was a huge mess.

This would probably come as a surprise at first, because food was one of the topics Goro would strategically use as a conversation starter, but there was one time he let it slip that he didn’t have his food, and another time he mentioned he hadn’t eaten anything since the previous night and there was also that time when he said he got funny looks when he bought only a single apple for lunch…

It was probably none of his business, but this part truly bothered Akira sometimes. Was it because he was so used to dishing drinks out to Goro that he somehow got concerned about what he consumed as sustenance?

Or was it because he truly cared about this kid, so much that he wanted to know his heart? After all, didn’t people say that the way to someone’s heart was partially through the stomach?

It didn’t matter. Other people might not see it, but Akira Kurusu was quite sure that Goro was barely functioning on most days, held by the thinnest of ropes, ready to fall apart when the strings snapped. It might not have been his business, but he wanted to help Goro somehow, even if it was only in a minor way he knew how.

Bless Sojiro for all the cooking skills he had passed down, really.

One Sunday night when Goro somehow didn’t come to Leblanc, Akira pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted the brunette while lazing around on his bed.

_‘Meet me tomorrow morning before school. I have something I’d like to pass to you.’_

It wasn’t until about half an hour later that Goro replied. Akira honestly thought that he had turned himself in for the night; it was late, after all. He was both relieved and nervous when his phone beeped. Ignoring Morgana’s disapproval, he opened the message.

_‘Oh? You really shouldn’t have. But thank you, I guess?’_

Akira never typed a reply so fast that the words still blurred before his eyes even after he hit the send button. _‘I’ll be waiting at Shibuya at 7 am.’_

After what felt like the longest minute, Akira got his answer: _‘Okay.’_

Relieved, he then looked at Morgana, who was ready to call him out to sleep. His plan would involve some kind of scheming at the crack of dawn, and there was no way he could hide it from Morgana, so he might as well come clean now.

“Morgana.”

“You must be tired. You should go to sleep,” the cat advised, stretching his lithe limbs on the bed. Akira nodded to show his agreement. Pacifying Morgana now could be crucial to ensure that the feline wouldn’t make too much fuss when he presented his proposition.

Akira then slowly spoke, “I’ll wake up really early tomorrow morning. Don’t claw my eyes out.”

Morgana’s eyes narrowed at first, but after looking at Akira’s determination, he simply curled up and meowed curtly, “Okay. Just this once.”

“All right.”

He then tucked himself in, falling into a light, interrupted sleep. When he woke up again, the moon was still high, and he breathed a sigh of relief. This would be worth it. He would see through it that this would work out.

 

* * *

 

Shibuya’s morning crowd was not for the faint-hearted. Akira had never been more thankful that Goro was tall enough to pop out in the sea of humans that looked so much like a mass exodus. The black-haired boy pushed through the crowd carefully, all the while praying that no one would bowl him over. Goro, who had noticed him approaching, tried to weave through the group of people as well.

“Hi,” Akira greeted once they were in front of each other. Goro gave him a smile, one that looked sincere enough even though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Akira couldn’t help but notice the dark circles around his reddened eyes…or was it just him imagining things?

“Good morning,” Goro replied politely. Akira then handed him a box wrapped with fabric, careful to not topple the content over.

“This is for you.”

Once the package was safe in his hands, Goro could feel that there was something warm inside. He looked quizzically at Akira, as if expecting an explanation.

“It’s a bento,” Akira commented awkwardly. “Sometimes you mentioned that you don’t really eat a proper lunch, so…well…” He shuffled on the spot, suddenly feeling as if he had encroached into a forbidden territory. For a moment, Goro only stood rooted to his spot, both hands clutching the edges of the bento box Akira just gave him. Akira started to realise how silly it was—maybe it really was a bad idea after all, maybe he shouldn’t have overstepped his boundaries, maybe he should’ve just minded his own business and not tried to pry into others' lives when he knew next to nothing about them, maybe—

“I can’t remember the last time anyone cooked homemade food for me. So…thank you.”

When Akira looked at Goro, he was smiling, but there was that sadness again in his eyes. Truly, how heart-breaking were his words? As always, the boy filed this neatly into his brain: another little piece of Goro which told him of the person beneath that fancy façade he wore in the face of public.

Akira suddenly felt like giving Goro a hug, but he wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate to do so. Therefore, in the end, he only nodded, never crossing the wall between them. He could tell that it was slowly falling, though.

They then went on their separate ways, taking the trains towards their respective schools. Even though he was pushed and pulled within the crowded train, Akira felt lighter somehow. He felt like he had done something right, that he had done _someone_ right.

 

* * *

 

That afternoon, Akira received a text message during lunch. He set his own bento down and unlocked his phone. It was from Goro.

_‘Hey, I just want to say thank you again for the food. It’s…really good. Surprisingly good, even.’_

Akira couldn’t help but smile. He swallowed the rice he was chewing and quickly typed a reply: _‘You’re welcome. Hope that no one’s suspicious that you’re not eating apples any more for lunch.’_

Goro’s next message arrived almost immediately. _‘Oh, I think it’s causing a buzz amongst some junior girls. They’re now thinking that I’m dating someone.’_

Akira was glad that he wasn’t eating anything when he read that comment because he was sure that he would choke otherwise. A cheeky reply popped in his mind and he hesitated, but eventually he decided that there was no harm teasing Goro a little bit.

_‘Oh? I guess only lovers make bento boxes for each other, eh?’_

Akira swore that he should stop trying to send risky texts to Goro because his heart always pounded like mad whenever he did so. When he received Goro’s next reply, he could feel his fingers shaking slightly around his phone. He subconsciously tilted his head backward a little, afraid to face the truth.

_‘Haha, I guess so! Well, why not…you did call me ‘Honey,’ didn’t you?’_

Oh no. _Oh, hell, no._ It truly backfired spectacularly; Akira almost buried his reddened face in his hands, even though he was struggling to contain his giggles.

He didn’t even manage to type any clever words out before he got another message from Goro.

_‘Well then, I guess I lost my lunch apples but gained another one…thank you, apple of my eye.’_

Akira couldn’t help but laugh out loud this time. Goro could truly turn on the charm when he wanted to; should that be a warning and send him off running? He didn’t quite know, but two could play the game, so he decided that he would play along for now.

_‘Oh honey, you’re always welcome.’_

He locked his phone and smiled at the sky after he sent the text. Was it a poisonous apple that he just bit? Or maybe the one which plunged him right into sin? He didn’t think he should overthink it, so he just closed his eyes, his heart awash with gratitude, content with the knowledge that maybe if he kept on trying, he could get to know Goro better and put some sunshine in his overcast heart. It might have been a fool’s errand, but for now, that was all that his heart knew he wanted.


End file.
